Breaking ground: Ceremony marks beginning of new high school (with video)

MORNING JOURNAL/SAM GREENE
Lorain City Schools Superintendent Tom Tucker speaks during the ground breaking ceremony for the new Lorain High School at 2600 Ashland Ave. in Lorain, on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012.

MORNING JOURNAL/SAM GREENE
Guest and members of the Lorain Schools Board of Education lift shovels during the ground breaking ceremony for the new Lorain High School at 2600 Ashland Ave. in Lorain, on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012.

LORAIN -- The warm and sunny weather was like a benediction on the groundbreaking ceremony for the long anticipated, $73 million Lorain High School building project.

The Lorain City Schools and school board hosted the ceremony yesterday afternoon at the site of the future Lorain High School, 2600 Ashland Ave.

Schools Superintendent Tom Tucker was thankful for the pleasant weather and the support the event received from the community.

Tuesday "the weather wasn't quite cooperating, but my operations director said, 'Trust me, it'll be beautiful,'" Tucker said. "I don't know how he did it, but it was beautiful. It couldn't have been any more perfect for this. Somebody's shining on us."

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Like the bright sun, Tucker also believes the new, state-of-the-art high school will shine bright as a new gem of Lorain.

"A lot of people have mentioned that this will be a beautiful gem for the city," Tucker said. "It's some really nice construction, and I'm not sure what other new things have gone up in the city in recent years, but we're very fortunate that this process has started."

Guest speakers at the ceremony included Mayor Chase Ritenauer and Tatum Hall, a fifth grader in Lorain City Schools. Hall, the daughter of Assistant Superintendent David Hall and Longfellow Middle School seventh grade science teacher, Tami Hall, said she is excited that, as the baby of her three siblings, will be the only one to get to attend the new high school.

"I'm excited to have new programs, because the elementary schools don't have art of music," Tatum said. "I'm excited that it will be brand new, and there won't be any vandalism on the new school, and there will be more flowers and plants," she said. "It looks just like a college campus."

As an educator, Tami Hall thinks the fresh, clean facilities will add to the sense of Lorain pride in among the community and the students.

"We moved here 13 years ago and we heard about how Lorain used to be," Tami Hall said. "Everyone used to want to come to Lorain for all of the opportunities, but we've seen it slowly decline, but we're finally going to have something to be proud of again," she said. "I can already see it. You hear it. You can see people light up again and be really positive for the future of our students."

Working from the administration end, David Hall believes the new facilities are a well-deserved boost for everyone.

"I think our community, and also our students and teachers deserve it," David Hall said. "They've waited a long time and sometimes these things get put on the back burner for different things, but they deserve it, this is state-of-the-art and the time has come."

Demolition of the former Lorain High School, standing on the grounds, is scheduled to be completed by January 2013. When the new building opens for the fall 2016 school year, it is expected to serve approximately 2,000 students.

The building -- dubbed an "urban learning center" -- will have three segmented buildings connected by walkways.

The two-story common/shared wing features two gymnasiums, a restaurant, the cafeteria, the media center and the administration area.

The three-story academic wing houses the bulk of the classrooms while the two-story career technology wing will feature the career tech classrooms, as well as the auditorium and music area.